Lecture II history of Great Britain plan

Old English

• Old English AD 5-6th Centuries Anglo-Saxon [Germanic tribes of Jutes, Saxons, and Angles] overran all England except Cornwall and Cumberland. They formed Independent kingdoms including Nothumbria Mersia, Kent, Wessex.

Middle English

• 11-15th Norman Conquest. England passed into French hands under William the Conqueror. French was used as the language of government business and the ruling classes for 300 years.

Early Modern

• 15-16th 1475 the spread of printing, which helped to English, stabilize the written language. In 1525 New Testament was translated into English. The revival of interest in Classical Latin and Greek led to many learned words being introduced into English. 1536-1543 Acts of Union united England and Wales after conquest.

Later M.E.

• 18-19th 1707 Act of Union between England and Scotland under Queen Anne. The countries became known as GB. 1755 First major English dictionary was published. Samuel Johnson writes it. It attempted to fix and refine the Language further. The growth of British colonial power led to the spread of English as a word language and many varieties of English appeared in North America, South Africa, and Australia.

Present day English

• 20th Present day English is an international language spoken in most parts of the world.

The Celts

• Two thousand years ago there was an Iron Age Celtic culture throughout the British Isles. It seems that the Celts, who had been arriving from Europe from the eighth century ВС onwards, intermingled with the people who were already there. We know that religious sites that had been built long before of the arrival of the Celts continued to be used in the Celtic period.

The Roman Period.

• In 55 B.C. the Roman people conquered Britain. The Romans imposed their own way of life and culture, making use of the existing Celtic aristocracy to govern and encouraging this ruling class to adopt Roman life style and the Roman language (Latin). The Roman province of Britannia covered most of present-day England and Wales. They exerted an influence without actually governing there over only the southern part of Scotland.